Water Management by Farmers in Nepal : a study on irrigation systems

Farmer-managed irrigation systems (FMIS) have contributed greatly to agricultural production in Nepal. An attempt has been made in this paper to discuss the nature and characteristic features of these systems so as to understand their organizational/institutional aspects. Studies show that FMIS operates better than government-managed irrigation systems (GMIS). However these systems are facing problems and the government has duly recognized the importance of assisting them. It is argued that there should be an effective mechanism to provide agricultural support services to the FMIS and to monitor the assistance efforts by the government and the nongovernmental organizations so that the farmers can operate in a better way towards increasing national agricultural nroduction.